president obama is on vacation in hawaii, and that's where we find nancy cordes tonight. nancy, what can you tell us? >> well, jim, still no conversations today between owmocrats and republicans on how to avert the fiscal cliff, which is a sure sign that the senate majority leader, harry reid, a democrat, is working on crafting legislation on his own that he would essentially dare house and senate republicans to oppose. his legislation would likely extend the bush-era tax cuts for households making less than 250,000 a year. it might also include enough short-term spending cuts to temporarily offset for, say, six or eight months, the indiscriminate across-the-board spending cuts that are set to go into effect on january 1. yis bill would also try to tie up some year-end loose ends by extending long-term unemployment benefits, patching the alternative minimum tax that duds up hitting so many middle class families, and preventing a mbg scheduled drop-off in thdicare reimbursement rates for doctors at the start of the enar. eyre in hawaii, the president has had a low-key chri